Resiliency on Her Terms: BMCC Honors Women’s Herstory Month

Women’s Herstory Month (WHM) at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) opens March 1 with Hydrate and Paint, a participatory event in partnership with the BMCC Health and Wellness Club. The focus on the painting event is self-care and reflects the WHM overall theme, “Resiliency on her Terms.”

WHM is led by the BMCC Women’s Resource Center, and created in partnership with departments across campus. The WHM co-chairs are Tammie Velasquez, Women’s Resource Center Manager and Project Lead for the BMCC Social Justice and Equity Centers, as well as Health Education Professors Anika Thrower and Alex Evangelista.

An overarching celebration for Women’s Herstory Month will take place March 22 and provide food, refreshments, giveaways and a sultry performance from vocalist Chestina Thrower. BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe will deliver welcome remarks, and a keynote talk will follow with BMCC Professor Anika Thrower. Some of Dr. Thrower’s research interests include investigating health issues that adversely affect the quality of life within underrepresented populations, especially women, and closing gaps in higher education attainment.

According to the event’s calendar listing, “In a safe place, we will explore the contributions women have in our lives, while paying homage to their impact. Women are expected to be strong and even celebrated for taking on more as they rise above all odds, regardless of the situation, especially BIPOC women. These unsustainable expectations take a toll on women’s mental, emotional, physical, spiritual well-being while igniting stereotypes, burnout, and oppression. Join us as we challenge this narrative and redefine what resiliency looks like to make sure it is always on her terms.”

Panels and workshops tackle important topics from reproductive injustice to digital surveillance

On March 8, two events will be presented: No TERFs on Our Turf and BMCC to Law School.

A March 9 event, Resistance Women in Colonial Latin America: A Conversation with BMCC Professor Lissette Acosta Corniel, will be presented in partnership with the BMCC Department of Race and Ethnic Studies. Professor Acosta Corniel teaches Dominican history and the history of Latinos in the United States. She has presented her research internationally and throughout the United States, and is working on a book manuscript about gender-based violence, femicide and women’s autonomy in colonial Santo Domingo.

The wide range of WHM events continues on March 15 with Reproductive Justice Tabling, Body Movement, Salsa Workshop and Black Girls in Media.

On March 23, WHM presents Reproductive Injustice: The Real Impact of a Post-Roe World. This panel presentation will feature NYC Council Member Shanan Hanif; CUNY Graduate School of Public Health Associate Dean Lynn Roberts, and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Medical Director Tara Stein. The discussion will address the Supreme Court’s decision last June in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health — a decision that overturned 50 years of legal precedent, eliminated the constitutional right to abortion and opened the door for state laws and policies that negatively impact educational achievement, employment opportunity and maternal and infant health. It also exacerbates existing racial disparities with respect to health, finances and the application of criminal penalties.

Other events throughout the month include “A Black Women’s Herstory: From Africa to the Atlantic World!” by Professor Remi Alapo on March 21; Money Moves: Financial Health, the Gender Gap and Salary Negotiation on March 23; Po’Jazz in The Heights (Poetry in Partnership in Jazz) on March 24 at CUNY in The Heights; a student poster project presentation and discussion, A Black Women Herstory: From Africa to the Atlantic World! on March 28; Reproductive Injustice | Digital Surveillance and Data Privacy Post-Dobbs on March 30, and the Natural and Proud Workshop: Ending Hair Discrimination in the Workplace on April 18.

See a list of all Women’s Herstory Month events.

Students that attend two or more WHM events are eligible to receive Co-Curricular Transcript (CCT) credit.

For questions, please contact the Women’s Resource Center at wrc@bmcc.cuny.edu.

The WHM 2023 art was designed by Edith Gonzales of Sans Design Studio.